This section contains descriptions of the two assignments required in this course, a list of potential paper topics, and hints for writing papers.
Papers
Short Essay
The short (1,000 word) essay due one day after Lec #7 is intended to be a summary of course concepts to date. Typically, this essay will ask you to compare social-structural, institutional, and cultural arguments for a particular political outcome. For instance, you might be asked to articulate and assess different arguments for why the U.S. has a smaller welfare state than most other developed countries or why the January 2005 elections in Iraq produced the results they did.
Research Paper
You will write one longer (3,000-word) paper, involving independent research on a topic approved by the instructors. The first version of your research paper is due one day after Lec #13, just before spring break; this may be a complete draft of the paper, or it may be simply the empirical meat of the paper, without a finished introduction and the conclusion. It should be polished and free of grammatical or stylistic errors, though the format of the bibliography, footnotes, and such may be incomplete. Initial presentations of the research paper will be made in class in Lec #12-13; these should be limited to five minutes, during which time you should summarize and justify your research design and findings. Each paper will then be discussed by at least one person.
Final versions of the research paper are due one day after Lec #18; these versions should incorporate comments on the first version of the paper. They will be presented in class in Lec #18; these presentations are limited to 3 minutes, and they should address any major changes since the week after Lec #11. Long papers must then be re-written for a separate grade based on comments from the instructor and classmates; rewrites are due one day after Lec #24.
A list of potential topics for research papers is provided below, as well as a list of past student paper topics. This list is intended to help you start thinking about topics; it is not intended to be a comprehensive inventory of possible subjects.
Papers are due by 4 p.m. to Professor Lawson's faculty mailbox in the political science department. Alternatively, they can be emailed as a Microsoft® Word attachment to both professors by 4 p.m. the day they are due; it is your responsibility to make sure they can be opened. Papers that are late will be penalized by one-third of a letter grade (i.e., A to A-) for each day late. If you need an extension, please request it ahead of time. Extensions requested a week or more in advance will be automatically granted; extensions requested the night before are virtually automatically denied.
I would like to practice blind grading, so please do not include a title page or put your name in the footer; instead, put your name on a separate page after the paper. Also, at the risk of stifling self-expression and generally sounding like a pain, we ask that all essays and short papers be double-spaced and submitted in Times 12 font. (Otherwise we learn people's fonts after the first paper, which defeats the purpose of blind grading.)
Extensive resources are available to you if you want help with writing. These resources include the MIT Writing Center on campus, the TAs, and the instructors. Please take advantage of these if you have any questions or doubts! (Some hints for writing papers are available below.)
Potential Research Paper Topics (PDF)
Hints for Writing Papers (PDF)